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Qualcomm TOQ smart watch trademark patent uncovered

The smart watch seems to be the next big innovation which has caught the eye of quite a few mobile manufacturers. We’ve already seen devices from Pebble and Sony, and then heard that Motorola, Samsung, Apple, and Google are all rumored to be working on their own smart watch ideas. But I bet that few of you would have suspected that Qualcomm was also working on its own design.

Qualcomm filed a name trademark for a device called “Qualcomm TOQ” back on June 26th. The device is described as a “personal communication hub in the form of a wristwatch; portable electronic devices for transmitting and reviewing text, data, image, and audio files, hands free device for mobile phones; battery chargers.”

That’s quite a mouthful, but sadly it’s not overly specific about what the device will actually contain. Knowing Qualcomm though, it’s rather unlikely that this device will ever actually make it on to a store shelf. Instead, the company typically opts to develop reference design products, like the tablet used to demonstrate the Snapdragon 800’s LTE-A capabilities, for other designers to use as the basis for their products.

All that this trademark suggests is that Qualcomm is working on circuits and embedded solutions which would suit a smart watch type device, but who could be interested in such a design?

It’s unlikely that Samsung would be attracted to this technology, considering that they’ve supposedly been preparing their own smart watch for quite a while. Similarly, Sony already has its design in place, so they wouldn’t really benefit from Qualcomm’s reference watch either.

This Nexus smart watch concept is great, let’s hope that something similar becomes a reality soon.

There’s always the possibility, or perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, that Google could potentially make use of a reference design. We know that Google likes to use other companies for its hardware, and working directly with the chip manufacturer would have a huge benefit for Google if it was to bring a Nexus type smart watch to the market.

Of course, that’s all conjecture for now, we’ll just have to be patient and wait to see who, if anyone, decides to pick up Qualcomm’s design.

Lead Technical Writer at Android Authority, covering the latest trends in consumer electronics and hardware. In his spare moments, you'll probably find him tinkering with audio electronics and programming.